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AP: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Tehran is making steady progress in its nuclear program, and warned that not even 100,000 U.N. Security Council resolutions will derail his country's nuclear ambitions. Ahmadinejad spoke days ahead of talks with world powers in Istanbul, Turkey. Tehran has hardened its position ahead of the meeting with the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, and Iranian officials have said they will not discuss their country's right to enrich uranium at the Jan. 21-22 talks. The semiofficial Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying 'Iran is making progress in nuclear energy' while the U.S. and its allies 'only issue resolutions.' 'Let them issue 100,000 resolutions,' he said. 'It's not important. Let them say what they want to.'" http://wapo.st/glxt8e
Bloomberg: "Iran wants talks with world powers in Istanbul this week to focus on politics and isn't preparing to discuss its nuclear enrichment work, the country's top negotiator told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine. 'We want to talk about fundamental problems in world politics,' Saeed Jalili, General Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said in an interview. 'Uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes is not up for discussion.' Iran is willing to talk about nuclear disarmament and U.S. atomic bombs stationed in Europe, Jalili said in the interview. United Nations sanctions, levied because of Iran's refusal to order a pause in its atomic work, have helped the country by making its economy more self-sufficient, Jalili told Der Spiegel. The so-called P5+1 group -- comprising China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and U.S. -- is meeting with Iranian officials this week in Istanbul." http://bit.ly/fy4bx8 AP: "A team of U.N. weapons experts and observers has arrived in Nigeria to investigate a seized Iranian weapons shipment found at the oil-rich nation's busiest port. Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia said in a Tuesday statement the team is led by Salome Zourabichvili, a former foreign minister of Georgia. Ajumogobia said the team would visit Lagos' Apapa port, where the weapons have been held since being discovered Oct. 26. The shipment, including artillery rockets and other weapons, were loaded in 13 shipping containers and labeled as building supplies. Authorities have said that the shipment originated in Iran and passed through the port in Lagos destined for Abuja, the nation's capital. The shipment later was redirected to Gambia before the seizure." http://wapo.st/fCQE0q 
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "Iranians will no longer be able to buy bargain gasoline from Friday as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tries to bolster the sanctions-hit economy by phasing out subsidies on basics such as energy, food and water. The semi-official Mehr news agency said on Tuesday that the ration of gasoline costing just 1,000 rials per liter (about 10 U.S. cents, or $0.38 per U.S. gallon) would be zero from the next Iranian month, which starts on January 21... Mohammad Rouyanian, head of Iran's Transportation and Fuel Management Office, said motorists would still qualify for 60 liters of 'semi-subsidized' gasoline, at 4,000 rials, after which they would have to pay 7,000 rials, about $0.70 a liter." http://reut.rs/eQpuxc
WSJ: "The government here said it is 'striving' to pass legislation allowing it to comply with United Nations sanctions against Iran. Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted 24 shipping companies-20 of them based in Hong Kong-it said were fronts for the Iranian state shipping line, known as IRISL, which it accuses of violating a U.N. weapons embargo. But without changes in its law-which would have to go through Beijing before taking effect-Hong Kong can't seize the assets of the shipping companies the U.S. says are skirting international sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear program. Sixteen of the companies are based in the same address in Hong Kong. Small businesses and entrepreneurs frequently incorporate in Hong Kong, using agencies that provide little more than an address, phone and a fax line for a fee. The state department alleges that Iran's shipping company transferred the ownership of some ships to Hong Kong shell companies." http://on.wsj.com/efqd2d AFP: "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev agreed to boost ties between their countries, in a a telephone conversation, state media reported on Monday. The call came after Russia snubbed Iran's invitation to visit two atomic sites in the Islamic republic that were thrown open to a group of foreign diplomats on Saturday and Sunday. Iran and Russia must always be 'friends and colleagues,' state television quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Medvedev. 'The Islamic republic of Iran welcomes an increase of ties in all areas between the two countries.' Its website said Medvedev echoed the Iranian hardliner's views. Medvedev, according to the report which did not give a date for the call, said the two long-standing allies could boost ties in energy, fuel, transportation and other commercial areas." http://bit.ly/e2O6Zb Bloomberg: "Iran plans to complete the development of its South Pars gas field by March 2015, the oil ministry's news website Shana reported, citing National Iranian Oil Co. Managing Director Ahmad Qalebani. Qalebani did not elaborate on the current status of the different development phases for South Pars, the world's largest gas deposit, according to the report published yesterday. Iran shares the deposit with neighboring Qatar. The field's development consists of 28 phases, Iranian officials have said. Iran's plans to develop South Pars have been hampered by international economic and financial sanctions over the Persian Gulf state's nuclear program." http://bit.ly/hzGlt3
Human Rights
NYT: "Iranian officials said Monday that a woman convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning may now face only a prison sentence for acting as an accessory to the murder of her husband. Apparently contradicting previous court documents, Zahra Elahian, the head of the Human Rights Committee in Iran's Parliament and a close ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that the stoning sentence against the woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, had never been confirmed. Ms. Ashtiani was convicted of adultery in 2006. 'The stoning sentence has not yet been finalized,' Ms. Elahian wrote in a letter to Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, that was published by Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency. Brazil offered asylum to Ms. Ashtiani last summer after her story gained international attention." http://nyti.ms/emHBjT ABC: "The Berlin film festival says it will honor imprisoned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi with screenings of his movies and a panel discussion on censorship in Iran. Director Dieter Kosslick said Tuesday the festival, which had invited Panahi to sit on its jury, is doing its best to protest his 'drastic punishment.' Panahi's lawyer said in December the director had been sentenced to six years in jail on charges of working against the ruling system. He is also banned from leaving the country, shooting films or scriptwriting for 20 years." http://abcn.ws/hyfcyU Reuters: "Iran has banned the production of Valentine's Day gifts and any promotion of the day celebrating romantic love to combat what it sees as a spread of Western culture, Iranian media reported. The February 14 celebration named after a Christian saint is not officially banned but hardliners have repeatedly warned about the corruptive spread of Western values. Under Iran's Islamic law, unmarried couples are not allowed to mingle. The printing works owners' union issued an instruction on the ban, imposed by Iranian authorities, covering gifts such as cards, boxes with the symbols of hearts and red roses." http://yhoo.it/fCNAzU Domestic Politics AP: "Authorities put down 14 lions at the Tehran zoo that had been diagnosed with an infectious bacterial disease that could affect visitors, a local newspaper reported on Monday. The state-own Jam-e Jam daily reported that the lions were suffering from glanders, a bacterial disease found in horses, donkeys, mules as well as other domesticated animals. It can spread from infected animals to humans. The paper did not say when the lions killed. Houman Moloukpour, a veterinarian, told the newspapers that the lions most likely contracted the disease because of mismanagement at the zoo." http://wapo.st/i6H6vb WashPost: "An Iranian vice president has lashed out at parliamentarians who have accused him of involvement in an embezzlement scheme, raising the stakes in a months-long standoff between the government and its critics. The Sharq newspaper, which is critical of the government, said Vice President Mohammed Reza-Rahimi had called prominent parliamentarians 'sick.'' Rahimi said those who leveled the accusations were trying to destroy President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, which he said is 'itself is battling corruption.' Iran's judiciary said in December that it would investigate the charges, first leveled in parliament last year. The subject is being discussed in state television shows and in local media, with pro-government media denying any wrongdoing took place." http://wapo.st/i8tD8T
Foreign Affairs
AP: "Iran has told the Afghan government it will stop blocking thousands of tanker trucks trying to move vehicle and heating fuel into Afghanistan. An Afghan government statement issued Tuesday says that the Iranian ambassador to Afghanistan, Fada Hussain Maliki, has told President Hamid Karzai that the more than 1,000 fuel tankers still stuck at the border will be allowed to enter Afghanistan during the next four days. Afghan officials say Iran had expressed concern that fuel shipments were supplying NATO forces in Afghanistan, though Afghan and NATO officials deny that." http://wapo.st/f4LeHk
AP: "Afghan businessmen have vowed to stop doing business with neighbouring Iran until it stops blocking thousands of fuel trucks from crossing into Afghanistan. The Afghan Chamber of Commerce issued a resolution on Tuesday protesting the blockade, which has caused fuel prices to spike. The unofficial ban on fuel trucks crossing the Iran-Afghanistan border began in late December with about 2,500 trucks stuck at three crossings. The blockade has prompted protests in Kabul and in Herat province, which borders Iran." http://yhoo.it/emnknH Opinion & Analysis
Bret Stephens in WSJ: "But the story of the Farewell dossier is worth recalling amid the hoopla connected to Stuxnet, the ingenious computer worm, likely of U.S.-Israeli design, that seems to have hobbled the Iranian nuclear program. Meir Dagan, the outgoing head of Israel's Mossad, said recently that Iran would not be able to produce a bomb until 2015, a date much further off than the 12 to 18 month timeframe Israeli officials were offering as recently as last year. U.N. nuclear inspectors confirm that Iran has been forced to de-activate 984 uranium-spinning centrifuges. Even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Stuxnet has caused 'minor problems'-a major admission. All of this is terrific news and a credit to Stuxnet's authors. It seems to have stopped the further expansion of Iran's enrichment activities. It will also likely require Iran to replace its Western-made computer control systems even as the international sanctions regime makes them increasingly difficult to acquire. And yet the Iranian nuclear program carries on. Stuxnet appears to have hit Iran sometime in 2009. As of last November, U.N. inspectors reported that Iran continued to enrich uranium in as many as 4,816 centrifuges, and that it had produced more than three tons of reactor-grade uranium. That stockpile already suffices, with further enrichment, for two or possibly three bombs worth of fissile material... And so Iran has fallen for a neat computer trick. That may be a source of satisfaction in Jerusalem, Washington and even Riyadh. But it cannot be a cause for complacency. Wars are never won by covert means alone. That's as true for Iran today as it was in Cold War days of yore." http://on.wsj.com/gCEhvC
Giulio Meotti and Benjamin Weinthal in WSJ: "In 2010, Germany and Italy put themselves further on the wrong side of history. Although both countries agreed last summer to support new European Union sanctions against Iran, the latest data show that both countries have increased their trade with the Islamic Republic. As Tehran continues its illicit nuclear program, Berlin and Rome are extending a commercial life line to the regime. Despite Chancellor Angela Merkel's repeated promises to reduce trade with the mullahs, German imports from Iran climbed to €690 million in the first 10 months of last year, surpassing by 28% the total 2009 import volume of €538 million, according to figures provided by the German Federal Statistics Office. German exports to Iran rose 5% to €3.164 billion between January and October 2010, compared to €3.013 billion during the same period in 2009... Italians, too, are 'having a wonderful boom in Iran,' as Sandro Bonomi, the president of the Federation of the Italian Associations of Mechanical and Engineering Industries, told Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore last month. According to Mr. Bonomi's organization, Italian robotics exports to Iran jumped 384% in the first three quarters of 2010, while exports of steam turbines and thermic machines to Iran rose 236% and 106% respectively. The overall export of engineering products to Iran from Italy rose 50% to €258 million in the first three quarters of last year, from €172 millions in the same period of 2009. Italian imports of Iranian goods had an even bigger boom. Italy bought €3.744 billion worth of Iranian goods in the first three quarters of 2010, according to the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade, up 167% from the €1.401 billion it imported in the same period of 2009. Italy's imports of Iranian oil ballooned by 90% last year, according to Unione Petrolifera, Italy's petroleum association. Meanwhile, Italy's energy giant Eni told Reuters last month that it will continue to receive Iranian crude for at least another three years, as Tehran still owes the company about $1 billion from previous deals...Without the help of the two European economic powerhouses, Iran would have considerably less money with which to build nuclear weapons, and to finance terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Unfortunately, it appears Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Berlusconi still consider their countries' combined €10 billion trade relationship with Iran to be more important than stopping a nuclear Iran." http://on.wsj.com/gggcfJ Harsh V. Pant in The Japan Times: "As India takes its seat on the U.N. Security Council as the new nonpermanent member after nearly a two-decade hiatus, its latest move vis-a-vis Iran has signaled New Delhi's desire to be viewed as a responsible rising power and a potential permanent member of the Security Council. The Reserve Bank of India has declared that oil payments to Iran can no longer be settled using the Asian Clearing Union mechanism - a system run by the central banks of nine countries, including India and Iran. This was a bold move as India imports 12 million barrels of crude oil every month from Iran with Iran accounting for 12 percent of India's supplies. As the two countries try to find ways to solve this problem permanently, India will be paying for Iranian crude oil through a German bank based in Hamburg as an interim measure. It was Iran that had asked India to use the ACU so as to avoid being targeted by U.S. sanctions. The ACU mechanism made it difficult for third countries to trace transactions and that ambiguity has troubled Washington for some time. The U.S. has complained that the transactions lacked transparency, allowing payments to be made to Iranian companies controlled by groups banned under the sanctions regime. The U.S. was quick to support India's decisions, suggesting that the RBI 'has made the right decision to carefully scrutinize and reduce its financial dealings with the Central Bank of Iran.' The U.S. has long wanted India to scale down its dealings with Iran. But India continues to view Iran as an important regional player, especially in the context of the evolving security situation in Afghanistan where Iran is seen as a potential bulwark against growing Pakistani influence. Notwithstanding this convergence on Iran, recent months have seen a significant cooling in Delhi-Tehran ties." http://bit.ly/f7zKS4 Meir Javedanfar in The Diplomat: "What's particularly interesting about the WikiLeaks revelations, though, isn't so much the enthusiasm that countries like Saudi Arabia demonstrated over a US-led attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, but that they wanted the United States to decapitate the entire leadership of the regime... All this means that anyone interested in finding a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear programme can't afford to dismiss the WikiLeaks reports-and the insights they offer into how desperate Iran's neighbours have become. It's true that earlier this month, the outgoing head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, said Iran wouldn't be able to acquire a nuclear bomb until 2015 at the earliest (revising a 2009 assessment, in which he told an Israeli parliamentary panel that Iran could have its first nuclear warhead by 2014). But the fact that the estimate for Iran to reach bomb-making capacity has been pushed back a year doesn't take the onus off of the Iranian government to cooperate with the West and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Tehran must alleviate concerns about the true nature of its nuclear programme and cease any military-related activities that are deemed unacceptable by the United Nations. If it can, it will find itself in a much better position to enjoy closer relations with its neighbours and in a position to tap nuclear technology to produce energy for its own citizens. But until it does, Iran's neighbours will view its nuclear programme as an unacceptable danger-regardless of whether they share their fears in WikiLeaked cables." http://bit.ly/ia1vds |
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